Metairie's newest and longest street-level bicycling path could move one step closer to reality Wednesday when the Jefferson Parish Council considers awarding a contract to stripe the lane. It will connect Bucktown to Old Metairie via Seminole, Papworth, Carrollton and Orpheum avenues.

For most of its three-mile length, the bike lane will be part of the street with a stripe separating cyclists from motorists. A short section, completely separate for bikes, runs along Interstate 10.

The council is scheduled to vote on awarding the $142,003 striping contract to Fleming Construction. The federal government is paying almost 80 percent of the costs, Jefferson Parish the rest, according to public records.

The Bucktown-Old Metairie route is not one of the ones identified by consultants in the master-planning process. Instead, they came up with 14 ideas for East Jefferson, five for West Jefferson. Parish officials already are seeking more money to build a path along Leo Kerner Parkway from Barataria Boulevard in the Estelle area to Parc Des Familles in Crown Point.